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1. The Committee has noted the Government’s 2002 report, which was received too late to be examined at its previous session. It has also noted other available information relating to the implementation of the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), with which the Government has been working for a number of years, and in particular the 2003 report on the project entitled "Reducing labour exploitation of children and women: Combating trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region". Finally, the Committee has noted with interest the ratification by Thailand of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). The Committee has repeatedly emphasized that forced labour exploitation of children, be it forced child labour, child prostitution, child pornography, whether in factories, sweatshops, brothels, private houses or elsewhere, is one of the worst forms of forced labour, which must be fought energetically and punished severely.

I.  Prostitution and trafficking of women and children

2. The Committee has noted with interest the positive steps taken by the Government, some of them in cooperation with IPEC and other international institutions, to adopt legislation and to put into place a coherent national policy framework for dealing with this problem. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts with vigour and to take effective action to implement the policies it adopts.

3. In its earlier comments, the Committee asked for information on the application of the Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act of 1996. It has noted with interest the information provided by the Government in its report concerning the activities of welfare protection and vocational development centres set up under the Act, including statistical information. The Committee has also noted a Memorandum of Understanding on Common Guidelines of Practices for Agencies Concerned with Cases where Women and Children are Victims of Human Trafficking B.E. 2542 (1999), according to which the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security is working in collaboration with other concerned agencies such as Royal Thai Police, the Office of the National Commission on Women’s Affairs, the Immigration Bureau and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to assist trafficked women by providing them with temporary shelters before repatriating to their home towns and by conducting recovery programmes which would enable them to reintegrate into society.

4. The Committee has noted serious concern expressed in the above Memorandum of Understanding that, at present, the trafficking in women and children is on the rise and that the gravity of the problem has very much increased since transnational organized criminal groups use Thailand as the place for gaining huge profit from trafficking in women and children. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply, in its next report, detailed information on the application of the above Memorandum in practice, as well as the information on the practical application of the Measures in Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997. Please also continue to provide information on the progress in the implementation of the Mekong Delta project on trafficking of women and children, as well as other information on the development of cooperation with neighbouring countries in order to prevent and solve the problems of cross-border trafficking of women and children, and indicate the concrete results achieved.

5. Preventive measures. The Committee has noted with interest the detailed information provided by the Government concerning preventive programmes carried out by the Ministry of Education, in particular, with IPEC assistance, including the awareness-raising and training projects. The Committee has noted, in particular, the information on the progress in the implementation of the Se-Ma Life Development Project, initiated by the Ministry of Education to prevent high-risk girls from poor families in five northern provinces of Thailand from falling into sex trade, which was able to help a large number of girls (59,895 during 1994-2001) by allocating funds for scholarships. It has also noted the Government’s indications concerning other preventive programmes carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health (nursing study) and UNICEF (working while studying), as well as basic education programmes. Finally, the Committee noted the information on measures taken by the Ministry of Social Development to increase employment opportunities for young women to enable them to live an independent life and to avoid a threat of becoming a victim of trafficking. The Committee encourages the Government to continue along this path and to take effective action to implement the above programmes and measures. It hopes that the Government will provide, in its future reports, detailed information on the efforts undertaken in this direction and on the results achieved.

II.  Other forced child labour

6. In its earlier comments, the Committee repeatedly pointed out that many children continue to work under coercion or in conditions of exploitation which have no resemblance to a free employment relationship. The situation is often linked to forced or false recruitment, deception and trafficking. The Committee stressed the importance of concrete and effective action to deal with the problem of forced child labour exploitation, according to clearly formulated goals and well-defined strategies. It pointed to the necessity of adopting means, such as a comprehensive legal framework, of improving law enforcement, of stimulating community awareness, and of adopting a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.

7. The Committee previously referred to section 44 of the Labour Protection Act, 1998, which raised the minimum age for employment to 15 years, and requested the Government to indicate measures taken or contemplated to extend this protection to workers in the informal sector. The Government indicates in its report that the ministerial regulations with the provision on minimum age are being drafted by the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, in order to extend the protection to workers in the agricultural sector. Besides, a draft home work Act submitted by the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare is under consideration by the Advisory Council for National Labour Development, Ministry of Labour. The Committee notes these indications with interest and hopes that the Government will keep the ILO informed of the developments and supply copies of these texts, as soon as they are adopted.

8. The Committee has noted the Government’s statement in the report that social and economic problems are a major factor contributing to the exploitation of child labour. In this connection, the Committee has noted the Ninth National Economic and Social Development Plan (2002-04) attached to the report, which, in the Government’s view, could serve as an instrument adjusting the social structure to eliminate the gap between the very poor and the wealthy. The Committee would appreciate it if the Government would continue to provide information on practical realization of development strategies of the Plan connected with the improvement of social protection of poor and disadvantaged groups, including, in particular, children in especially difficult circumstances. It also reiterates its request for information on practical effects of the action programme on "Strengthening the capacity of the Employers’ Confederation of Thailand to prevent child labour through the creation of an employers’ best-practice guide and child-friendly employers’ network and the facilitation of vocational training and apprentice schemes", launched by the Employers’ Confederation of Thailand with the cooperation of IPEC.

III.  Law enforcement

9. Inspection and prosecutions. The Committee has noted the information provided in the Government’s report on the number of labour inspections during 2000 (33,671 inspected establishments and 2,028,022 inspected employees), which uncovered 4,236 under-age workers of 13-14 years old. The Government indicates that during the period between October 2000 and September 2001 there were 46 cases of grievances received by "hot line" and 22 cases of grievances received by letter, which resulted in the prosecution by labour officials of ten employers on charges of child exploitation and cause of occupational hazards to young workers; all employers were fined in total 29,000 baht and a total of 567,820 baht was claimed as benefit for the children involved. Labour officials also assisted the employees in lodging the grievance with inquiry officers in order to proceed criminal cases against employers on charges of forced prostitution (one case), bodily harm (four cases) and rape (one case). The Committee expresses its concern about the small numbers of prosecutions and the lack of information on convictions in criminal cases. The Government has not yet supplied reliable statistics of prosecutions and convictions related to child prostitution and forced child labour; the figure reported by the Royal Thai Police ("284,870 cases concerning the arrest of prostitution in 2001") does not shed light upon this matter. The Committee strongly expresses the hope that effective measures will soon be taken in this regard and that more precise information on them will be included in the next report.

10. Article 25 of the Convention. The Committee would appreciate it if the Government would supply in its next report information on any legal proceedings which have been instituted under the Penal Code Amendment Act (No. 14) B.E.2540 (1997), which has redefined sexual offences to include the procurement or trafficking of children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, indicating penalties imposed and supplying copies of relevant court decisions.